Eric McClerren · LPC
A rigorous coaching process for leaders who need more than tactics.
A clear look at how the work is structured, what we'll actually do together, and why this approach creates change that lasts.
Two levels. One goal.
Most executive coaching works at one level: behavior. It asks, what do you want to do differently? — and then helps you do it.
That's useful as far as it goes. But in my experience, it doesn't go far enough for leaders facing genuinely complex situations.
They don't have a strategy problem. They have a pattern problem.
They're struggling because their internal and relational systems are working against them in ways they can't fully see. The goal of this work is to address both levels — systematically and honestly.
Level One
External clarity.
Understanding the system you lead in — and how you actually show up within it. Hogan Assessment, structured 360 interviews, and systems mapping ground us in what is real before we change anything.
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Level One
External clarity.
Understanding the system you lead in — and how you actually show up within it. Hogan Assessment, structured 360 interviews, and systems mapping ground us in what is real before we change anything.
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Level One
Seeing clearly — your system, your patterns, and the gaps between them.
Before we try to change anything, we need a clear picture of what is actually happening.
That sounds obvious. It rarely is.
Most leaders have never had someone help them see both of these realities at the same time:
The dynamics of the system around them.
The patterns they bring into that system under pressure.
Instead, they get fragmented inputs — organizational feedback filtered by politics, fear, loyalty, or limited perspective. Or personality insights that feel interesting but disconnected from the real leadership challenges in front of them.
Our work starts differently. We build a comprehensive, honest view of your leadership from multiple angles.
Diagnostic Foundation · I
The Hogan Assessment — a research-backed view of how you lead.
Every engagement begins with the Hogan Assessment — a suite of three scientifically validated personality instruments used by leading organizations worldwide for executive development. It's not a personality quiz. It's the most respected tool in the field for understanding how leaders actually function.
Lens I
Strengths & reputation
How you typically show up when things are going well. Your day-to-day leadership style and the impression you consistently create.
Lens II
Risk under pressure
The patterns that emerge when you are stressed, overloaded, or fatigued — the ones that quietly limit trust, judgment, or effectiveness.
Lens III
Core drivers & values
What motivates you at the deepest level — and the kind of culture you naturally create around you.
Together, these three dimensions give us something most coaching never provides: a precise, evidence-based map of who you are as a leader — not just what you do, but why you do it, and what's likely to happen when the pressure increases.
We'll debrief the results together in depth. This isn't a report you receive and file away. It becomes a living reference point throughout our work — a shared language for the patterns we'll be working with.
Diagnostic Foundation · II
360-degree interviews — what the people around you actually experience.
The Hogan gives us a data-driven view of how you're wired to show up behaviorally. The 360 interviews reveal how that's actually landing with others.
I conduct three confidential interviews with people you select — typically a mix of direct reports, peers, board members, or other stakeholders who see your leadership up close. These aren't survey forms. They're real conversations — structured, thoughtful, and designed to surface the patterns that matter most.
What I'm listening for isn't just feedback. It's the system around you — where trust is strong, where friction lives, what people wish they could say to you but haven't, and where your leadership is having impact you may not fully see.
The result is an honest, nuanced picture of how your leadership is experienced by the people it affects most. Combined with the Hogan, it gives us a starting point that's grounded in reality — not assumptions.
For clients who want additional perspective, optional multi-rater feedback surveys can supplement the interviews with broader quantitative data from a wider circle.
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Level One — continued
Mapping the system you operate in.
With the Hogan and 360 data as our foundation, we turn to the system itself.
Using frameworks rooted in Bowenian systems theory — adapted for organizational and leadership contexts — I help leaders develop a clear-eyed map of their environment:
Most leaders have never had this conversation. They're so close to their system that they can't see it clearly. That's not a character flaw. It is the nature of being inside the system you are trying to lead.
The result is often good leaders making suboptimal decisions — not because they lack judgment, but because they're operating on incomplete information about the dynamics around them.
This part of the work changes that. You'll walk away with a more accurate map of your situation, a better understanding of what the moment actually requires, and stronger judgment about how to lead it.
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How anxiety and reactivity flow through your team, board, or organization.
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Where triangles, overfunctioning, and other reactive dynamics are driving decisions.
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The kinds of behaviors the system is implicitly rewarding and punishing.
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How your natural leadership instincts may be helping in some contexts but hurting in others.
Most leaders have never had this conversation. They're so close to their system that they can't see it clearly. That's not a character flaw. It is the nature of being inside the system you are trying to lead.
The result is often good leaders making suboptimal decisions — not because they lack judgment, but because they're operating on incomplete information about the dynamics around them.
This part of the work changes that. You'll walk away with a more accurate map of your situation, a better understanding of what the moment actually requires, and stronger judgment about how to lead it.
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Level Two
Clearing what's getting in the way internally.
Once leaders can see the system more clearly, a deeper question usually follows:
If I know what wise leadership looks like here, why do I still struggle to do it consistently?
This is where surface-level coaching tends to stop. And this is where our work often becomes most valuable.
In my experience, the answer is usually not a lack of knowledge or intelligence. It is internal interference.
Protective patterns. Fear-based responses. Overlearned strategies that may have helped you succeed in one season, but now cost you clarity, trust, or steadiness under pressure.
The Hogan often names these patterns precisely. The 360 interviews show where they're landing. And this part of the work is where we address them directly.
Using approaches informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) and other clinically grounded methods, we identify and work with what's actually blocking the leadership you already know you're capable of. This might include:
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Perfectionism, control, or avoidance patterns that create distance from your team.
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Achievement-driven urgency that keeps you performing but not present.
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Anxiety-driven reactivity that makes it hard to stay clear when the pressure is high.
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Exhausted internal systems still running on old strategies that no longer fit your current role.
Eric has helped me understand and manage the intersection of how I show up at work, at home and to myself — and also to realize how they are really all one and the same. The work you do in one area will have lifelong impacts on each of the others. One of my favorite things about Eric is his ability to tailor our discussions in a way that resonates with my engineer brain — the science behind emotion and feeling and thought, and how to interact with it in new ways. I am a better leader, a better father and a better person because of our work together.
— Matt S., Senior Vice President, Fortune 100 Company
This is not therapy. But it's informed by the best of what clinical psychology has learned about how people actually change — and it makes the behavioral changes stick.
What working together actually looks like.
The core engagement is a six-month commitment. That is intentional — meaningful change in leadership, not just short-term performance improvement, takes time. We need enough runway to build trust, complete the diagnostic work, apply it to real leadership situations, and begin to shift patterns in a durable way.
What's included
Six-month engagement
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12 sessions over six months
Two sessions per month, typically 60 minutes each. Held via video or phone, with in-person options for clients in the DC metro area. We work on active leadership challenges, key decisions, and the internal patterns shaping how you show up.
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Hogan Assessment + full debrief
The full Hogan suite is administered at the start of the engagement and debriefed together in depth. It becomes a foundational reference point throughout the work.
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Three 360-degree interviews
Confidential, structured interviews with people you select. Conversations designed to surface how your leadership is actually experienced — where alignment is real, where friction is buried, and what people are carrying that you may not fully see.
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Optional multi-rater feedback surveys
For clients who want broader quantitative data from a wider circle of colleagues, direct reports, or peers.
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Unlimited email support between sessions
Leadership doesn't stop between appointments. You can reach me when something significant comes up — a difficult conversation, a decision you're wrestling with, a pattern you just noticed. I'll respond thoughtfully, usually within 24 hours.
Beyond the structure — what shapes the experience.
This is active work.
Sessions are not passive check-ins. We work on what is real and current — the decision, the relationship, the pattern, the blind spot. I ask hard questions, offer direct perspective, and challenge assumptions that might be costing you.
The challenge is always relational.
Hard questions only land when the relationship is steady. What clients find in this space are things that we rarely expect to find together: genuine challenge and genuine care.
Everything is confidential.
No session content is shared with your organization, board, HR team, or sponsor without your explicit written consent. If your employer is paying for the engagement, confidentiality does not change.
What this work costs.
$15,000
Six-month engagement
Single payment or installments
That includes everything described above — 12 sessions, the full Hogan Assessment and debrief, three 360-degree interviews, unlimited email support, and the level of preparation and attention this work requires.
I work with a limited number of leaders at any given time so I can give each engagement the depth it deserves. Payment can be made as a single payment or in installments over the course of the engagement. Employer-sponsored arrangements are welcome.
If budget is a genuine barrier but the fit is strong, I'm open to having that conversation.
Before working with Eric, we struggled with recruiting and attracting the right talent, and I experienced challenges leading my existing team.
Eric's guidance helped me improve my systems and processes for attracting talent. Crucially, it also helped me clarify my existing team members' goals and responsibilities, empowering them to know exactly what they need to do to thrive.
— Matt Megel, Founder & CEO, CAZA Gainesville
Questions worth answering before we begin.
Is this therapy?
No. Executive coaching and leadership advisory work are not therapy, and I don't approach it that way.
That said, my clinical training informs how I work — which means the depth and quality of the work often exceeds what you'd find in traditional coaching. If clinical therapy is what you need, I can refer you to the right people.
What is the Hogan Assessment?
You choose the stakeholders. Most clients select a mix of direct reports, peers, board members, or a supervisor — people who see your leadership up close and can speak honestly about what they experience. The interviews are fully confidential. I share themes and patterns with you, not individual attributions.
Who is this not a good fit for?
This is probably not the right fit if you are looking for:
- Quick tips.
- Motivational accountability.
- Surface-level leadership frameworks.
- Psychological hacks to squeeze extra productivity out of your team.
- Tactical operating advice from someone who’s been up the mountain before you.
This work is deeper, slower, and more diagnostic. It requires a willingness to examine your own patterns — not just your strategy.
Why six months?
Because meaningful change in how someone leads takes time. Six months gives us enough space to build trust, complete the assessment process, work through real challenges as they arise, and begin to see the patterns shift. Some clients continue beyond six months. Many do.
What about confidentiality?
Complete.
Everything shared in our sessions stays in our sessions unless you explicitly authorize something in writing.
Because this is a coaching engagement rather than psychotherapy, our conversations are not legally privileged in the same way clinical therapy is. That said, the standards of discretion and care remain high.*
*As an LPC, I am still a mandated reporter and required by law to report situations involving imminent risk of harm or abuse, consistent with state law.
What if my employer is sponsoring the coaching?
Employer-sponsored engagements are welcome and common. The coaching relationship remains between you and me — your employer does not direct the process or receive session content. We work together to determine what, if anything, is shared with your sponsor, and all communication is authorized by you in writing. Payment by a sponsor does not change the confidentiality of our work.
What if I'm not sure this is what I need?
That's exactly what the initial conversation is for. Apply, we'll talk, and I'll give you my honest assessment of whether this is the right kind of support for your situation. If I don't think I'm the right fit, I'll tell you — and point you toward someone who might be.
If you're ready to do this kind of work, I'd like to hear from you.
A short application is the first step. I'll review it personally and reach out within two business days if there's a potential fit.
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